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Check your receipts!!!

First stop was at Tong Li supermart, a newly opened Chinese grocery shop. They were having a 10% storewide sale, so we took advantage of the offer to stock up on various Chinese and Asian groceries and snacks... the checkout was very busy, the cashier had to work very quickly to scan and bag all our items.

The two stories featured retailers ripping customers off because of scanning errors at the checkout, such as scanning the wrong price or wrong quantity etc. A survey revealed that over 80% of stores were found to have scanned items incorrectly. They didn't necessarily do it intentionally though, sometimes just computer glitches or human error. But we consumers all agree that it is their responsibility to ensure that such incidents are minimised... 80% is just too ridiculous!!!

So we decided to scrutinise the receipt to spot any errors... sure enough we saw a packet of agar-agar charged twice on the receipt. We went back to ask the cashier, and she nonchalantly told us, "It's a two for one offer", to which I replied, "But I only bought one packet". Without batting an eyelid she said, "Same price whether you buy one pack or two", "I didn't realise that, you should have told me", I said trying to keep the irritation out of my voice... "Sorry", was the curt reply, "just go in and get another pack".

After I returned from retrieving the extra pack of agar-agar, I was positively seething with irritation at their attitude. We went back home to drop off the Chinese groceries. As we unloaded the groceries, we realised that they had forgotten to charge us for a carton of eggs. Well, serves them right for their carelessness!

After that we went to Woolworths to pick up some other staples. And we encountered yet another scanning error. As we were returning the shopping trolley, we checked the receipt to spot any errors... and right there I saw that they had charged a 1kg pack of bacon at $7.99 instead of the marked price of $6.99. We went back to sort out the error. Here they were more polite and were very apologetic as we waited for them to send someone to double check the price. Apparently the price was actually $6.55 (Walau-eh!!! They even make errors in their price marking!!!). Then a staff member hurriedly thrust $8.00 into my hand, mumbled an apology and rushed away to attend to something else. I stood there for a moment, confused. After looking around, and unable to catch anyone's attention, we just walked off. I wondered if it was another careless mistake made in confusion for refunding us the whole amount instead of the difference overcharged to us, or it was gesture of apology in which case they should have explained it to us. Oh well, their loss is our gain.

This past week has been all about snails.The children are always fascinated by the snails in our garden and ask endless questions about them.A couple of weeks back, one of my boys stumbled across a snail crawling along the ground.

And so Nathan’s very first day of kindergarten is over. It was a mixture of good, bad, sweet and sour. I think that so much happens throughout the day, it can be challenging for a little person to filter through it all.

These days my days are packed full to the brim. From the moment I wake up to the sound of Grace calling through the baby monitor and Nathan’s cheeky face peering at me over the edge of the bed… to the evening when I finally tuck them into bed and say goodnight.

Catch up with me on Instagram @livingserenely

This is me...

Hi! My name is Serene. This is my little ‘home’ where I hope friends can stop by to catch up, share thoughts, exchange ideas, where I can share good things I’ve found, and even share some yummy food... read more »